Micro-Electro-Mechanical Transducers
First Claim
1. A micro-electro-mechanical transducer having a movable mechanical part to transform energy, the transducer comprising an addressable device element having a device element periphery defining a device element area, wherein the addressable device element comprises:
- a substrate;
a top plate layer disposed above the substrate; and
a resilient structure between the substrate and the top plate layer, wherein;
(a) the resilient structure has a lower portion connecting to the substrate and an upper portion connecting to the top plate layer;
(b) the upper portion of the resilient structure has a plurality of connectors connecting to the top plate layer;
(c) the plurality of connectors are distributed over the device element area and have at least one connector located substantially away from the device element periphery toward an inner region of the device element area;
(d) the top plate layer and the connectors define a transducing space below the top plate layer;
(e) the addressable device element has at least one transducing member to induce energy transformation; and
(f) the resilient structure enables a vertical displacement of the plurality of connectors to transport the top plate layer in a substantially vertical direction, thus changing the transducing space and activating the transducing member.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A micro-electro-mechanical transducer (such as a cMUT) is disclosed. The transducer has a substrate, a top plate, and a resilient structure therebetween. The resilient structure has multiple connectors distributed over the device element area to vertically transport the top player with distributed support. The resilient structure may be cantilevers formed using a middle spring layer covering cavities on the substrate. Connectors define a transducing space below the top plate. The resilient structure enables a vertical displacement of the connectors, which transports the top plate in a piston-like motion to change the transducing space and to effectuate energy transformation. No separate cells are necessary for each addressable transducer element. Multiple device elements can be made on the same substrate.
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Citations
66 Claims
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1. A micro-electro-mechanical transducer having a movable mechanical part to transform energy, the transducer comprising an addressable device element having a device element periphery defining a device element area, wherein the addressable device element comprises:
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a substrate; a top plate layer disposed above the substrate; and a resilient structure between the substrate and the top plate layer, wherein; (a) the resilient structure has a lower portion connecting to the substrate and an upper portion connecting to the top plate layer; (b) the upper portion of the resilient structure has a plurality of connectors connecting to the top plate layer; (c) the plurality of connectors are distributed over the device element area and have at least one connector located substantially away from the device element periphery toward an inner region of the device element area; (d) the top plate layer and the connectors define a transducing space below the top plate layer; (e) the addressable device element has at least one transducing member to induce energy transformation; and (f) the resilient structure enables a vertical displacement of the plurality of connectors to transport the top plate layer in a substantially vertical direction, thus changing the transducing space and activating the transducing member. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51)
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52. A micro-electro-mechanical transducer having a movable mechanical part to transform energy, the transducer comprising a substrate, a middle spring layer and a top plate layer arranged in that order such that a bottom side of the top plate layer faces a top side of the middle spring layer and a bottom side of the middle spring layer faces a front side of the substrate, wherein the transducer comprises at least one addressable device element defining a device element area of the substrate and a corresponding device element area of the top plate layer, each addressable device element having a transducing member and being further characterized in that:
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(a) the device element area has at least one cavity between the substrate and the middle spring layer, each cavity being sidewalled by at least one anchor anchoring the middle spring layer; (b) the middle spring layer covers at least a part of each cavity; (c) at least one connector of a desired height disposed above each cavity, the connector standing from the top of the middle spring layer; (d) the top plate is placed over the connector(s) to define a transducing space below the top plate layer; (e) each connector is horizontally distanced from one of the at least one anchor by a sufficient length to define a cantilever between the connector and the anchor, wherein the cantilever and the cavity enable a vertical displacement of the connector to transport the top plate layer substantially vertically, thus changing the transducing space and activating the transducing member; and (f) the at least one cavity and the corresponding anchor(s) together occupy at least half of the device element area. - View Dependent Claims (53, 54, 55, 56)
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57. A micromachined ultrasonic transducer (MUT) structure comprising a substrate, a middle spring layer and the top plate layer arranged in that order such that a bottom side of the top plate layer faces a top side of the middle spring layer and a bottom side of the middle spring layer faces a front side of the substrate, wherein the MUT structure comprises a plurality of addressable MUT elements each defined by a MUT element area of the substrate and a corresponding MUT element area of the top plate layer, each of the plurality of addressable MUT element having a transducing member and being further characterized in that:
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(a) the MUT element area has at least one cavity between the substrate and the middle spring layer, each cavity being sidewalled by at least one anchor anchoring the middle spring layer; (b) the middle spring layer covers at least a part of each cavity; (c) at least one connector of a desired height disposed above each cavity, the connector standing from the top of the middle spring layer; (d) the top plate is placed over the connector(s) to define a transducing space below the top plate layer; (e) each connector is horizontally distanced from one of the at least one anchor by a sufficient length to define a cantilever between the connector and the anchor, wherein the cantilever and the cavity enable a vertical displacement of the connector to transport the top plate layer substantially vertically with a piston-like motion, thus changing the transducing space and activating the transducing member; and (f) the at least one cavity and the corresponding anchor(s) occupy at least half of the MUT element area. - View Dependent Claims (58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66)
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Specification